Bruins defenseman Kevan Miller ready when needed

Wednesday

Jan 22, 2014 at 9:39 PMJan 22, 2014 at 9:44 PM

Kevan Miller's work over his first 16 NHL games convinced the Bruins to give him a contract extension. The third-year pro isn't guaranteed playing time, but he does guarantee he'll be ready when he gets it.

Mike Loftus The Patriot Ledger

It doesn’t necessarily qualify as job security because there’s practically no such thing in the NHL.

There is a little more economic certainty in Kevan Miller’s life today, though – as well as more than a reasonable assurance that the Bruins consider him an NHL-caliber defenseman.

Miller, the determined 26-year-old who has reached the NHL after 21/2 pro seasons, signed a two-year extension with the B’s on Tuesday. The new contract kicks in next season and he’ll average $800,000 annually through 2015-16. It’s a one-way contract, so he’ll get the NHL salary – a nice bump from this season’s $550,000 – whether he’s in the big leagues or the minors.

The timing of the extension is interesting, if for no other reason than that Miller may soon be shuffled from the defensive rotation. Injured blue-liners Dougie Hamilton (concussion) and Adam McQuaid (leg) could begin practicing this week and, once both are healthy, Miller could be fighting for ice time.

He has become used to that, though, in 16 games over three recalls from AHL Providence.

“I’m just trying to take it one day at a time here,” he said after helping seal the Bruins’ 3-2 victory over the L.A. Kings on Monday. “One day at a time, one game at a time, just trying to be ready to play.”

Miller, on whom Providence had become increasingly dependent since the B’s signed him as a free agent out of the University of Vermont in 2011-12 (he wasn’t drafted), has done well to be ready for just about anything in Boston. His ice time has varied, from a high of 22 minutes, 12 seconds on Dec. 8 at Toronto – that was during his second emergency recall from Providence – to a low of 10:19 on Jan. 7 at Anaheim. He has also been a healthy scratch three times since the B’s brought him up for the third and almost certainly final time on Dec. 30.

“It kind of depends on the game,” Miller said. “If we’re down a certain amount of goals, I don’t provide as much offense as some other guys, so in those cases I may find myself not on the ice as much.

“I kind of thrive off a shut-down game – keeping things simple, keeping pucks out of our zone.”

That was the case on Monday, a game the B’s played without Dennis Seidenberg, Hamilton and McQuaid. Miller played 19 minutes, 5 seconds – nearly eight minutes in the first period when the Bruins built a 2-0 lead, a little less than four in the second period, and then 7:21 in the third. More than half the third-period minutes came in crunch time, as the B’s protected their one-goal lead: Miller took four shifts in the last six minutes – including the final shift of the game – and logged almost four minutes.

“Like I’ve said before, that’s my power play,” said Miller, who recorded a game-high five hits against the big, physical Kings. “That’s my time to kind of show the coaching staff and everyone else that they can have the confidence in me to be out there and make the right plays.”

Coach Claude Julien isn’t ready to declare that Miller, a right-hand shot, is a permanent solution to Seidenberg’s absence. But the coach will say that when the situation calls for the 6-foot-2, 210-pounder’s physical and defensive skills, and he’s using them effectively, Miller can count on plenty of important minutes.

“He’s pretty big, he’s pretty physical, he’s having a good game,” Julien said on Monday. “Guys that are playing well should be out there.”

Mike Loftus may be reached at mloftus@ledger.com. On Twitter.com: @MLoftus_Ledger.